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Efo. WAGNER.

A ELECTRIC REGULATOR. No. 399,224. Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

Wam/Lw #Vm dem/ef N. PETERS. Phnmulhug'nphu. wnsninglcn. D. C.

UNITED STATES A FRANK (l. HAGNFJR, OF

PATENT @ENCE ANN ARBOR, MltvlllGA.

A Eiekigrnlc REG U LATO a.

SPEI'FICTIDN Yforming partpt'Letters jPatent No. 399,224, dated March 5, 1889. rpuplicatinniiile'deQGtObQr'QLl-S88. SerialNdnZpSSQ. lilo model.)

To @ZZ whom, z' may concern:

Be it known that l, FRANK C. WLMN'ER,;a citizen of the United States, residing at Ann Arbor, county of Vashtenaw, and State of Michigan, have made a new and useful invention in Regulators for use on Electrical Circuits, of which the following is a specification My invention relates particularly to regulagyyrs of that type ot devices which are actuated by or through the thermal et't'ects of a curr nt of electricity.

The nature and object of my invention will kbe i" ill-y understood by referring to the fol- ,55 lowni iecitication and accompanying drawings, but. particularly pointed out 1n the ,claims at the end of said specification.

in the drawings, in which like letters ot rei'- crenee wherever used indicate like parts, Figzo utc l is a Side elevation of my improved regnlator, and Fig. 2 plan thereof, Fig, 23 is an end elevational view of the same; and Fig. l is a side elevational view of a modiiied torni, ,J owing a shunt-wound dynamo and a work.- g5 in" circuit, t-he whole being operatively conne Yted vfor the regulation ot' the dynamo, while is an end elevational view of the regulator shown in Fig. i.

E is the basefboard which sustains the operative parts ot my improved regulator.

A and A are metallic standards rigidly secured to the opposite ends ot said base-board,

and ll is a metallic wire of high resistance and ot such nature as to be readily intluenced by the thermal eit'ects due to the llow ot an electrical current. This wire B is connected at its opposite ends under strain to the upper ends ot" the metallic standards A A, and carries at its middle, as shown in Figs. 4o l and i, a weight, l), rigidly secured to it.

C C? Cc', d'c., are metal blocks soldered or otherwise' rigidly secured to the wire B at sul)- stantially equal distances apart on either side of the weight l). These metal blocks constitute a series ol electrical contact-points adapted to contact against a corresponding series of points, D l)2 D", d'c., lying directly below them, said points being in the nature of metallic springs secured by screws to the 5o base-board E, and connected,respectively, by

resistance-coils R R2, the., to R1", with a wire,

K, also secured to said base-board F F2, d'e. 'll-.o Fm are screws extending through the 'free ends `of `the contact-springs D to D1, inclusive, and linto the base-board E, forming in this instanceback-stops for said spring-contacts.

G is the incoming wire .troni the workingcircuit to the regulator, and ll is the outgoing wire from the regulator to said workingcircnit, in which is located in this instance a translating device, 3l', l'or which the iiow of the current is to be regulated through the wire K and the shunt-resistances R to R1", inclusive, as will be explained.

Suppose M to be one ot' a series of electrical translating devices, as motors or electric lights, situated in a working-circuit, G ll, and that some one or more ot the outlying translating devices have been thrown out ot' circuit or shortcircuited. ln this event there might be a dangerous increase of current through the translating devices M were it not tor the regulator, the operation ot which l will now describe. An increase of current in the working-circuit G ll, in the manner indicated, would cause the thermal conductor B to be heated and through the agency of the weight P bring one or more ot the metallic pieces, t" to Cl", into electrical contact with the metal springs D to Dl", thus shunting more or less of t-he current through the rheostats R to Rl" around the translatingdevices M.

The modied Yli'orm shown in Figs el. and 5 is designed for use where it is found necessary to increase the resistance in the shunt when an increase in the electro-motive torce occurs in the working-circuit. )l represents a shunt-wound dynamohavin its armature in the working-circuit and its held-magnets in the regulator-cireuit. ll is a nietallicbar electrically connected to a cond uctor, L, which also constitutes a part ol the I'ield-magnet circuit. In this instance the metallic contactsprings D to D", inclusive.lie entirclyabove the screws F to F1", inclusive, the heads of which are located at dillercnl' elevations. The rear ends ol' these metallic springs are connected to the rheostats R to l, inclusive, and in turn to shunt-wire li, as before, said wire K being connected to the armature-ciri enit, as shown, while the thermal wire .l is

IOO

connected directly in the working-circuit. The weight I is attached to the thermal wire B, as before, but carries in this instance two standards, U, which are attached at their upper ends to the rod L, but insulated therefrom by insulation, V. The operation of this modified form will be understood on examining Fig. 4. It is quite clear, as shown in this ligure, that any increase in the electro-motive force in the working-circuit due to any external change causes an increased i'iow of current through the thermal wire B, thereby permitting the weight P to lower the rod I until one or more of the contact-springsDto Dlois or are brought into mechanical contact with the heads of screws F to F10, and in that manner breaking the circuit successively between said contact-springs and the bar I until the resistance in the field-circuit has been in-v creased a sufficient amount to counterbalance the effects due to the increased electro-motive force in the working-circuit.

It is obvious that this regulator is adapted for use in many ways which will at once suggest themselves to persons skilled in the artas, for instance, it might be used with an electric meter where the meter is located as shown at M in Fig. 2, in which event the reading of the meter would be directly proportional to the current strength instead of the square thereof. The form shown in Fig. 4 may be used as an alternating-current constant-potential regulator in the following' manner: Suppose the entire primary is the actuating current. Then as the primary current increases the resistance of the exciting-current is diminished, and an increased total electroinotirc force results, suflicient to compensate l for the loss of potential due to wiring. I do not limit myself, therefore, to any special mechanism for adapting the principle herein described, and simply show the forms of apparatus disclosed to best exemplify the application of this principle to regulators generally as applied on electrical circuits.

lVhat I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. An electrical regulator consisting of a thermal conductor located in circuit with a translating device requiring current regulation, in combination with a multiple-arc shunt around the translating device,and two sets of contacts, one of which sets is borne by the thermal conductor and the other connected to the multiple-arc branches of the shunt and adapted to contact successively, substantially as described.

2. A thermal electric regulator consisting' of the following' elements: a thermal conductor carrying multiple contacts and a shunt lhavin g multiple contacts located near the first set of contacts, substantially as described.

3. In a regulator, the combination of athermal conductor located in thc' main circuit with the device requiring current regulation, a shunt around said device, and circuit-varying connections between the shunt and the thermal conductor, whereby the current is shunted around the device requiring regulalation in proportion to its fiow, substantially as described.

FRANK (l. XVAGNER.

Witnesses:

A. T. STEvENsoN, Gno. B. VANCE. 

